A Week of Tails
by cfxcin02
Summary: A picnic out at Mako Island holds some surprises in store for Ash and Lewis. They don't take kindly to the surprise and their plan to get even leads the way to a competition among the girls to see which of them is best at protecting their secret.
1. The Picnic

**This is my first fan fic; I've rated it "T" due to some adult language and some adult concepts and themes. Please read, review and enjoy.**

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**Disclaimer: I do NOT own H2O: Just Add Water. Never have and fairly certain that I never will.**

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**H2O: Just Add Water**

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**A Week of Tails**

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**Chapter 1: The Picnic**

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"Rikki, you might want to move."

"Why?" She lay on the beach unmoving.

"The tide is coming in and it is almost up to your feet."

"And your point is…"

"In another minute or so your feet will get wet."

"I know what happens when I get wet Lewis, after all I am a mermaid and have been for over a year."

"That wasn't what I was getting at."

"Lewis, were on Mako, the only people around are you, me, Cleo, Emma, and Ash. Zane is out in his Zodiac keeping a look out and he's got a radio to call me on if anybody comes near as unlikely as that is, but he wanted to go fishing. He knows I'm a mermaid, you know, Emma and Cleo know, and Ash knows also. So tell me Lewis who is going to see me with a tail that hasn't already seen it?" She threw her hands up in exasperation.

"Ash."

"Attention, earth to idiot," She propped herself and turned to face Lewis. "Ash knows about us."

"No, what you asked was who had not already seen you with a tail. Ash may know about it but he actually hasn't seen you as a mermaid yet and what I was trying to get at is you're trying to get a tan right?"

"Wow Lewis did you figure that out all by yourself?"

"Do you remember my water proofing formula? Or how about Emma's red hair?"

"What's your point Lewis?" She took her sunglasses off and looked Lewis right in the eye; she was growing extremely annoyed with Lewis.

"My spray turned you skin red and when you got I the water and turned into mermaids your skin went back to normal. And Emma had her hair died as a mermaid but when she dried off ad returned to human her hair went back to blond."

"Lewis I don't see what you're getting at and I really don't care. Now get lost before I get so annoyed that I fry you and Cleo has to look for a new boyfriend." She put her glasses back on and laid back down returning to her tanning.

Lewis backed up a few steps and watched as a wave washed up on shore covering Rikki's feet. He stood watching as Rikki's tail appeared and then walked back over to her.

"You get wet and you get a different skin; your mermaid skin if you will. That is what will get tanned, not your normal human skin. While you will get a tan now it will disappear when your tail does. Just like your clothes and glasses; they're gone now but will return when you dry off."

"Gee thanks for telling me that, now get lost."

"You're not listening to me are you?"

"Nope, but maybe if you said something worth listening to I would."

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It was a perfect bright warm sunny day, Emma, Ash and Cleo all had the day off from work and to top it off it was the weekend so no school; the whole day was wide open. With such a perfect day they decided that a picnic was in order and so they could be alone they decided to hold it out at Mako Island. Everything had been packed up between Lewis' boat and Zane's Zodiac they got everything loaded up. With all the supplies there wasn't room for all 6 people in the boats so the girls swam out together, they had been looking for an excuse to get away and spend some time together in private away from the guys to make some additional plans, and this had given them their chance.

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While Rikki and Lewis were busy arguing Cleo had been wondering about looking for Lewis. When he finally spotted him the fight was over and Rikki just lay on the beach silently ignoring everything that Lewis was saying. Cleo only saw Lewis though and ran over to him greeting him with a kiss on the cheek.

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"Hey where've you been? I've been looking allover for you, Emma and Ash challenged us to a two on two game of Volley Ball; us against them."

Cleo looked down to see Rikki lying on the beach with her tail; eyes shut to block out the sun she appeared to be asleep.

"Lewis, why didn't you wake her and so she could move back away from the water, can't you she's trying to get a tan."

"Well for starters I'm awake, and so what if I've got my tail, you know I'm a mermaid, Lewis, Emma, Ash, Zane, they all know it and there is nobody else around, so who cares." Rikki let her temper flair. "Now I recommend you get your boyfriend out of here before I roast him and you end up having to find a new one."

"But…"

"C'mon Cleo lets go teach Emma and Ash a lesson." Lewis didn't give Cleo a chance to finish her thought.

"But…" She tried again.

"Just c'mon, I'll explain on the way."

* * *

The gang had found a small level clearing in the woods and set up everything there including volleyball net where Emma and Ash waited. Finally when Cleo and Lewis returned and they got the ball out and got ready to play.

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"Ok Cleo, no using your powers."

"What? Excuse me? Emma, did you actually just tell me that I'm not allowed to use my powers? You actually think I would?"

Cleo couldn't believe what she had just heard; it was shocking to her, especially coming from Emma.

"Well let's not forget about the last time we played Volley Ball."

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Lewis and Ash took a seat on the sidelines while the girls began to get into it.

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"Ok, the first time I was angry and wanted a little revenge on them since they were being such bitches towards us and mocking us like they were. The Second time I wanted to humiliate them a little and the third time wasn't even me; it was Charlotte. On top of that if I hadn't used my powers to score those points then we would have lost the game and been out of that tournament and failed Phys Ed."

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"Lewis, don't you think we ought to be getting in there and breaking this up or doing something."

"Na, trust me Ash, right now it is better to stay out of it; wait till it turns from friendly competitive bickering to actual anger before getting between those two. They're both a little too strong headed to listen to reason when they're absolutely convinced that they're right about something."

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"And you're one to talk about using powers to cheat, let's look at your track record shall we; not long after our powers increased you froze the soccer field causing Nate's brother to slip and miss a shot just so Elliot could take a shot instead. Then there was the incident with you freezing the tip of Zane's pool cue."

"I only did that after Rikki used her's to make Ash sweat so bad that it got in his eyes and made him miss the game winning shot."

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"You know I think I remember what she's talking about, that match was a result of me trying to kick Zane out of the Juicenet for being so obnoxious."

"Zane, obnoxious; never." Lewis laid on the sarcasm so thick that Ash couldn't stop laughing.

"Well the whole thing started when Zane knocked a tray of juices on to Emma…" Ash stopped laughing as his voice trailed off as he came to a realization. "Huh, guess that would explain why she ran off to the cool room so quick and kept telling me not to come in."

"Ah, their anniversary." Lewis said reminiscently.

Ash gave Lewis an inquisitive look.

"It was the girls' one year anniversary of becoming mermaids, and it almost was ruined for them when that whole situation got blown out of proportion."

_.  
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_Emma and I had been dating for a while now and I'd had a fair deal of time and I had plenty of time to get used to her being a mermaid and learn a lot about it but every so often I still learned something new, such as if they start acting strange -like fighting over a simple volleyball game; be suspicious; something is going to or has happened that equals trouble._

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Ash and Lewis carried on their conversation while Emma and Cleo continue their fight until Cleo let out a shriek, "Oh that's it Emma, you're going down."

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Lewis and Ash looked at each other, "Sounds like they're ready to play."

"You sure it's safe to play, Cleo sound like she ready to kill someone."

"It's safer to play."

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The game got underway and after a few points it was Lewis' serve; as the ball headed for the net Cleo subtly dropped her hand down to her side and created a gust of wind to carry the ball well past Emma and Ash.

_._

_Why did she do that? She just got done fighting with Emma about using powers and she goes and does just that; and she didn't even use them to our benefit. That ball is way out, that's their point._

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Ash went to retrieve the ball and while he was gone Cleo focused her attention on the drink coolers behind Emma. They had brought two different coolers for drinks, one for the girls with just drinks in them, no ice or anything to keep them drinks cool -after all they couldn't reach in to a cooler filled with melting ice. But the second cooler, the one for the guys was where Cleo had focused her attention specifically. That one did have ice in it to keep the drinks cool, and of course the ice was melting just like Cleo wanted. She again began to use her powers, she raise a tower of water over top an unsuspecting Emma.

_._

_Get ready to catch her Ash._

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Lewis hadn't been paying attention and Ash was off getting the game ball so Cleo was the only one who knew of the tower of water over Emma's head as she let it drop. Emma screamed and Lewis and Ash both turned to look at a furious Emma soaking wet Emma.

"I'm going to get you for this." Emma threatened.

_._

_Did she just…_

_._

_Oh crap, quick catch her._

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Ash doped the ball and ran to catch his girlfriend getting to her just in time as her tail appeared and fell right back into his arms. He set her down gently and went to get a dry towel.

Cleo just laughed and started to head back out to the beach, "Kida hard to get even when you can't move."

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"I'll show you can't move." Emma raised her hand and suddenly Cleo found her feet literally frozen solid.

"Here you go Em," Ash handed Emma a towel and went over to Lewis, "You know Lewis maybe we had better head out and just leave these two alone to work things out." He whispered in secret.

"Actually this is the point that we enter, I have never seen them this mad at each other so I'm going to get Cleo out of here before Emma freezes anymore of her. This can be fixed with a little help from Rikki, but I don't want to risk Emma doing anymore than she already has. You distract Emma while I get Cleo out of here."

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They did just that; Lewis carried Cleo for a short distance till they were a fair distance away from Emma. He set Cleo down to go find Rikki. He found her still lying on the beach in the same spot and form that he had last seen her.

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"Sorry to bother you Rikki, but Cleo needs your help."

"What?" She took off her sunglasses and propped herself up to look at Lewis.

"Yeah, you see Emma kinda Froze Cleo's legs."

"She froze Cleo's legs? Why would she do that, and how am I supposed to help?"

"Long story you can ask her when you see her, and don't you remember when Emma accidently froze Mirriam."

"Oh yeah, I remember that now. Ok pull me up the beach a bit the tide is coming in pretty good now."

Lewis pulled her up the beach far from the edge of the water. She steam-dried her tail away and got up and followed Lewis to Cleo.


	2. Phase Two

**A/N: thanks to all those that have read, reviewed and/or added me to their various alert lists. Please read, enjoy and if you like, review.**

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**Chapter 2: Phase 2**

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That evening Rikki went out for a swim, she headed for the moon pool and swam in only to find Cleo leaning back against the edge of the moon pool her arms spread out to support herself as her tail stretched out and floated in front of her.

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"Hey, how are your legs doing?"

"I wouldn't know; I kinda have a tail right now."

"Wow I'm impressed, I didn't think you had a sense of humor, but seriously, when you're _not_ a mermaid how are your legs?"

"Fine, no problems."

"So they obviously took the bait; tell me, what'd you do?"

Cleo turned to face Rikki as she began to tell the story. "Well it started when Emma decided to tell me that I'm wasn't allowed to use my powers during the game. I _naturally_ was insulted and we got into an argument -and we made it seem very realistic. Once we got the game underway I waited a few points and on one of Lewis' serves I blew the ball a long way back so Ash had to go and retrieve it. That is when I raised a nice tower of water out of the guys drink cooler and dumped it on Emma."

"Nice." Rikki commented approvingly.

"What did you say about me?" Emma had just surfaced hearing only the mention of her name.

"Nothing, I was just telling Rikki about earlier today."

"That reminds me are your legs okay?"

"Just fine, but how did you come up with the idea to freeze my legs?"

"It just came to me, spur of the moment."

"Well it was brilliant."

"Thanks."

"Ok can we get back to how you leg got frozen, you had just gotten Emma wet."

"Well Cleo and I had planned ahead of time for me to get wet; so when it hit me I told her that I was going to get even with her."

"Right, and after her tail appeared Ash was ready to catch her and set her down and I tried to leave and that is when she froze my legs as her way of getting revenge. Yeah I had a momentary panic but then I remembered Mirriam and knew that with your help I'd be fine."

"Well I must say I am sorry I missed it. So I take it we're ready for phase two?"

* * *

"Ok, how do we handle this?"

"It's probably best that I go up and talk to Cleo myself. She'll probably think that whatever you say will just be you defending Emma because you're dating."

"Yeah, but, what if Emma's there, I mean I haven't been able to get a hold of her and have no clue where she is. After the fight today it seems likely that she would be at the moon pool."

"Don't worry about that, she's helping Zane put away all the gear from today."

"Still, you sure that it is safe, she was pretty pissed when Emma froze her feet."

"The worst thing Cleo will do to me is dump a couple hundred gallons of water on me. Wouldn't be the first time; after the eclipse incident they kept me on top of a geyser for a like five hours."

"They did what?"

"I'll explain another time."

"All right then, let's go."

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Ash and Lewis slid down the hole into the cave that would lead them to the moon pool and began to make their way through the cave. Just before the final climb up to the moon pool and came to a halt.

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"Wait here till I come get you."

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Lewis climbed up to the moon pool to see Cleo and Rikki relaxing.

"Cleo we need to talk."

"What about?" Cleo said annoyed knowing what Lewis wanted to talk about.

"Today; and what you did."

"Oh c'mon, you've got to be kidding me." Rikki interrupted and turned to face Lewis, "Emma had it coming to her and I find Cleo's actions rather funny."

_._

_But not as funny as what you've got coming._

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"Rikki this is between Cleo and me."

"She's right Lewis; Emma had it coming to her and didn't need to freeze my legs."

"Look Emma shouldn't have suggested that you would use your powers and cheat; and was out of line to freeze your legs, but what you did was uncalled for."

Cleo turned around to face Lewis as well. "Save it Lewis!"

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Cleo had been growing increasingly annoyed and finally had had enough. She pushed herself back a little and raised a ball of water up out of the pool and circled it around Lewis' feet and raised it up to his knees.

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"Cleo what are your doing." Lewis was baffled and confused as to what Cleo was doing, and then it got worse when the water suddenly froze, "Hey what the…"

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Ash heard the commotion and climbed up to the pool and as soon as Cleo spotted him she gave him the same treatment she had given Lewis. Ash had no idea what had happened when he suddenly found his legs surrounded by water that turned to ice just as quickly as quickly as it had gotten there.

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"Perfect." Cleo was suddenly grinning from ear to ear with evil mischievous delight as Emma surfaced in the pool with a grin just the same as Cleo's.

"Somebody want to explain to me what is going on here?"

"It's really simple Lewis," Rikki began, "You and Ash have fallen into a trap set by Emma and Cleo."

"Emma and I had planned to get into an argument to trick you guts and get you to let your guard down. With you guys not expecting anything and not paying attention I would be able to get Emma wet. Her freezing my legs wasn't planned but a nice touch none the less."

"We knew that if we had a big enough fight and our actions were drastic enough you two would come out here to try and talk to us and resolve the fight just like you did. Once you were out here we could trap you just like this."

"Ok I have a question here; why? Why did you trap Lewis and me out here like this?"

"No particular reason, we just thought it would be fun to mess with you guys," Cleo responded, "Turns out we were right."

"Yep, it has been fun but now Cleo and I need to be going; but don't worry, we leave you in the very capable hands of our very own Rikki Chadwick."

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Lewis and Ash looked at each other nervously as their girlfriends submerged beneath the water and swam out leaving the boys with Rikki who had a mischief grin on her face.

_._

_We're in serious trouble. _

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"Ok boys, here's how this is gonna work…."

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**A/N (part 2): Part of the fun of this chapter is the endless list of possibilities of what Rikki would do to Ash and Lewis; esspecially Lewis. I encorage you use your imagination, because it makes it more fun to let each person imagination what they want instead of me picking something. Please read and enjoy, and if you feel like it please feel free to submit a review.**


	3. Plotting

******A/N: thanks to all those that have read, reviewed and/or added me to their various alert lists. Please read, enjoy and if you like, review.**  


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**Chapter 3: Plotting**

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The next day Lewis went down to the Juicenet Cafe extra early to wait for Ash. He waited around plotting his revenge strategy when Ash arrived.

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"Ash, great you here, is Emma working today?"

"Not till later on."

"Excellent, I've already started planning how we're going to get even."

"What'd you have in mind?" Ash unlocked the cafe and began going about getting the cafe ready to open for business.

"Well for starters they're going to be getting a lot of exercise when they constantly have to run for safety.

"Catch."

Lewis tossed Ash a squirt gun.

"For the next few days we will look for opportunities to shoot them and make them run for safety any chance we get. Now obviously we have to make sure they have a safe hiding place nearby and they can access it easy before we get them wet so we don't blow their cover, and we have to be careful that other people don't get suspicious."

"Clever; I like it."

They began discussing specific time, locations and strategies for getting the girls wet.

* * *

The girls met up that same morning for what was almost a daily ritual for them, a morning swim together. Without saying a word to each other Emma and Rikki made eye contact and then took off running as fast as they could for the water leaving Cleo standing on the shore watching.

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"Oh c'mon," Cleo yelled out to them in vein, "Do you have to do this every time?"

Cleo stood on the shore shaking her head and trotted into the water and swam off in pursuit of Emma and Rikki.

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Emma entered first and surfaced looking back as a second later as Rikki surfaced.

"When you gonna learn? I'm faster than you."

"You say that now but one of these days I will get you."

"In your dreams maybe."

While they were busy with their usual debate of if it was possible for Rikki to beat Emma Cleo swam in and surfaced in the moon pool.

"Isn't this whole racing thing getting a bit old? Rikki when are you gonna learn, you not going to beat her, and Emma you've proven you're the fastest and always beat her, so why do you encourage her?"

"Could this have anything to do with you always being last?" Rikki asked.

"No, I've accepted that and don't care, besides it's not like I always come in last in every thing we do."

"Yes you are Cleo."

"Remember when you two were first seeing how long you could stay under for? You both went 15 minutes while I lost count at 16 ½ minutes."

"You know I did have some news for you guys that you might find interesting but now I'm not so sure I want to share it with you."

"Rikki, out with it or I'll freeze you in the pool."

"Em, you know that won't do any good; I'll just melt the ice."

"Yeah I know, but if you don't tell us I'll do it anyway."

"Ok, calm down. I thought you and Ash were working this morning and I was going to steal you for a morning swim. When I got there I overheard Lewis and Ash making plans to get even for yesterday."

"They plan to get us wet, multiple times and in public."

"WHAT?" Emma and Cleo shouted in unison.

"Relax, they're just looking to scare us and make us run for cover. They're plan on having a safe escape route available for us and then get us wet and make us run for cover."

Emma and Cleo breathed a sigh of relief.

"So here is what I'm thinking, we cannot be alone in public with them, we have to be paired up or all together when we are around them in public. We have to watch out for each other and turn this around on them. Whenever we see them getting ready to get us wet we have to use our powers to stop them and if possible to make it backfire on them."


	4. Revenge Spoiled Well… Almost Spoiled

**A/N: thanks to all those that have read, reviewed and/or added me to their various alert lists. Please read, enjoy and if you like, review.**

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**Chapter 4: Revenge Spoiled (Well… Almost Spoiled)**

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The Juicenet Cafe hadn't even been open for business an hour when Zane walked in. The only people there were Ash and Lewis.

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"Zane," Lewis called out to him as he started to turn and leave, "We need your help."

"Lewis before you say anything more you should know that I know about the trap, Rikki told me about it; that is why I was out fishing and keeping a lookout.

"If you knew why didn't you warn us?"

"She threatened to tell my dad that we're dating again and I don't care to listen to him about that, especially since he doesn't care for her. He still thinks I'd be wasting my time and future with her, so I he finds out about that I'm gonna get more than an ear full from him."

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"Hey Zane, I wasn't expecting to see you hear?" Rikki's voice caught Zane off guard and startled him.

"What? Am I that scary to see? Or is it one of these freaks I've got tagging along with me?" Rikki motioned towards Emma and Cleo who were right behind her.

"It's you, defiantly you that's scary looking."

"So scary you can't kiss me?"

"Yes actually."

"Oh really? Well then I guess we won't be making out for what… the next month, two? Or maybe three, four, five?"

"Oh c'mon Rikki, I was joking around."

"To bad; you want to be a smart-ass with me you have to pay the price."

Frustrated with Rikki he started pushing Lewis towards the back room, "Lewis can I have a word?"

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"Hey Em, what are you doing here? Your shift isn't till later on this afternoon, this is early even for you." Tina, one of the girls that worked with Emma and Ash at the Juicenet walked in the door for her shift.

"She thinks she's here to work, but what she doesn't know is I have to send her home for not being in uniform." Ash replied trying to be funny.

"What makes you think I would go home?" Emma batted back, "Just because you said so?"

"Well I am your boss; plus you do have school."

"You're only my boss because I'm allowing it; if I wanted I could talk Wilfred into firing you and giving me your job."

"Hey Ash, why do you have a water pistol behind the counter?" Tina asked as she walked around the counter to get started on her work.

Ash made up an excuse but Emma didn't hear it; instead she subtlety nodded her head to Rikki who slipped away from the group and made her way towards the back of the counter.

"It's nothing, just something between Lewis and me."

"So what are you doing here so early?" Ash asked turning his attention to Emma.

Emma, Cleo and Ash began making casual conversation as Rikki slipped behind the counter immediately spotting Ash's squirt gun. She went to pick it up when she noted it was sitting in a pool of water.

_._

_Nice try Ash._

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Rikki made quick work of the water surrounding the gun and proceeded to evaporate the water in the gun itself and was going to let it sit but deep down inside her dark side stirred; Darth Rikki was coming to the surface. She heated the squirt gun almost to the point of melting it. Her work complete she walked back around the counter and grabbed a seat in front of the counter.

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"Hey Ash can I get something to drink?" Rikki asked.

"Sure in a minute."

"No, now. I am a paying customer, and I want service now."

"Ok, fine, what do you want?"

"You have to ask? Don't you know me by now, unless I specifically ask for something else I want a Banana Beat Box."

Ash went behind the counter and started making Rikki's drink.

"Rikki what has gotten into you, we were talking with him; can't you have a little patience."

Rikki got up from her stool and walked over to Emma, "Relax, I'm trying to get under his skin to the point he'll try to shoot me and fall right into my trap."

"What did you do?"  
"You'll see just try not to pay attention to him or me; this is a perfect opportunity for him to try and get even, yeah it is only one other person but if I've pushed him enough he'll try and get me wet."

"Rikki all I wanted you to do was steal the gun."

"Oh and don't let me forget to pay you for my juice before your shift, cause I'm gonna make a huge fuss and not pay him for it, you can ring it on your shift later."

"Rikki…" Emma started to protest but was interrupted by Ash.

"Here you go, happy now?"

"No that took way to long, I refuse to pay for this drink, learn to be quicker."

Rikki turned her back to Ash and began sipping on her juice. Emma turned away as well grabbing Cleo and started to head towards the door.

Ash had grown truly and utterly annoyed with Rikki and saw an opportunity.

_._

_Ok Rikki, you want to be like that? Let's see how you like your juice when you have to run and don't get to finish it._

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He went to grab the squirt gun he had left sitting on the counter.

"Ow." He screamed out in pain at the top of his lungs.

Emma turned around to see Ash clasping his hand in pain and realized what Rikki had done. Tina stopped what she was doing and looked at Ash, "What's wrong."

"Nothing, I'm fine." He replied staring down Rikki shooting her daggers.

"I'll see you in a couple of hours." Emma said laughing as she left the cafe followed by Cleo and Rikki.

Lewis and Zane had come out of the back room when they heard Ash scream and walked over to him as they watched the girls walking out.

"What happened?" Lewis whispered.

"Darth Rikki made an appearance."

"Oh, well maybe this will ease the pain a bit; Zane has decided to help us out. Meet me at my house when you get off work and I'll fill you in on everything."

"Don't bother, I don't know how but there on to us; Tina saw the squirt gun sitting on the counter and asked me about it, they heard that and must have known what I had in mind. I can't be sure when but at some point Rikki must have slipped back here and heated the gun. Then she provoked me into trying to get her wet and when I tried grabbed the gun I burnt my hand."

* * *

Lewis didn't take Ash's advice ad decided to pay Cleo a visit. She had work that day also. Since Ash had been alerted to their knowledge of the plan to get revenge they figured he wasn't going to try anything with Emma, so Rikki followed Cleo to work just in case Lewis was gonna try anything, a choice she was regretting.

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"I can't believe you are actually doing your homework."

"Yeah well I kinda need to start doing some of it or I'm gonna fail, plus what else am I gonna do, I'm sitting here bored out of my mind. How do you stand this job? All you do is stand there and serve ice cream to a few people here and there. Most of the time you are doing nothing."

Cleo didn't respond. She was looking at something off in the distance.

"Cleo? What's wrong with you? You're acting like you're moonstruck. I know you're not; the full moon was last week, plus it's like one in the afternoon."

"Lewis."

"What?"

"I can't be sure but I think I see him sneaking threw the bushes off in the distance."

"I can't take much more of these books so I'll go check it out."

"No if it is him I'll be able to tell soon enough. There's a stretch of path just ahead of him that makes for a nice wind tunnel; and it just so happens that the wind likes to blow pretty strong right through there; enough to literally blow somebody off their feet and into the dolphin tank. And it's close enough for me to see people's faces. If it is Lewis I get the feeling there will be one of those gusts of wind."

"How do you know he's not just coming by to visit you? Not that I care."

"He'd be on the main path and not trying to sneak around."

Cleo and Rikki kept an eye on the figure in the distance as it moved slowly towards them.

Finally Rikki became annoyed with waiting, "I'll be back, I need to take a bathroom break."

Rikki got up and walked off to the bathroom and on her return trip she made sure to glance over and see if the figure they had been watching was Lewis.

"It's him." She said upon her return.

"What?"

"I checked on my way back and it's defiantly Lewis and he has a water pistol."

Cleo took out her cell phone and began typing a text message.

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Lewis' phone beeped alerting him that he had just received a text message. He looked at the sender; Cleo. The message read: "U no u r in a wind tunnel". Lewis looked up to see Cleo and Rikki waving at him. Puzzled at what was going on, he hesitantly waved back.

_._

_Why is Cleo waving with her left hand? She's right handed._

_._

_I got my answer quickly when I saw her raise her right hand and felt a huge strong gust of wind blow me back right into the dolphin tank._

_._

_Ash was right, they know we're about our plan, we're gonna have to come up with something else._

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Lewis climbed out of the water and walked down the path to Cleo and Rikki who were laughing.

"Lewis, don't even think about getting Cleo wet."

"I don't intend to." Lewis took a quick look around, "You're the one getting wet."

Lewis waved his hands at Rikki shaking the water off of them sprinkling her in the process, "Nobody is around the dolphin tank is straight ahead, have fun."

Rikki took off running and dived into the dolphin tank quickly and swam off to find a private place to get out and dry off.

"You realize she's gonna get you for that?"

"The way I see it she and I are even, but what I want to know is why you felt the need to blow me into the tank."

"Just trying to make my point clear that you and Ash are not going to do anything to try and get even, and if you so you will pay the price."

.

.

**A/N (part 2): I realize I'm taking a bit of time to get down to the main plot of the story (the challenge) but I would like to assure you that it is coming. This chapter is the last of the set-up for it; the next chapter will be when they create the challenge. **

**Next, just in case you can't see how Lewis could fall into the dolphin tank. If you watch the scenes where Cleo is at work you will notice that the edge of the tank is level with the ground. **

**Lastly the Darth Rikki thing is a name I have for her whenever she is up to no good and using her powers to create trouble or mischief (such as evaporating pool water). It is essentially Rikki's dark side coming out.**


	5. The Challenge

**A/N: thanks to all those that have read, reviewed and/or added me to their various alert lists. Please read, enjoy and if you like, review.**

.

.

**Chapter 5: The Challenge**

.

The day was winding down; Emma hadn't seen Cleo or Rikki since she left to go to work; and Cleo hadn't seen Rikki since Lewis had gotten her wet. Though they tried they were unable to work out a time to meet for an evening swim together and settled on just meeting at the moon pool. Rikki had been the first to arrive and had propped herself up along the edge of the pool. Emma was the next to arrive and as she surfaced Rikki was quick to greet her.

.

"Looks like I beat you."

"With the head start you had even Cleo could beat me."

"I'm not that slow." Cleo had just surfaced and was swimming in as Emma batted back at Rikki."

"Actually Cleo you are; even with a full hour head start I could beat you."

"I'm starting to regret blowing Lewis in to the water a few more times after you left. He's not talking to me right now because of that."

"Wait what happened?" Emma asked.

"Lewis deiced to try and sneak up on me at work today. I spotted him a long way off and blew him into the dolphin tank. Then when he got out he came over to me shook off some of the water on him right onto Rikki. She took off into the tank and disappeared. Oh and Rikki, just in case you decided you want them back I've got your school books at my house."

"So Lewis got you, why am I not surprised?"

"What do you mean by that?" Rikki snapped at Emma.

"Well you are the worst at keeping our secret."

"The hell I am, you're fucking nuts if you think I'm the worst one at keeping our secret."

"Uh Rikki… I'm gonna have to agree with Emma on this one; you are the worst at keeping it."

"No Cleo that would be you, not me."

"I AM NOT!"

.

The fighting, yelling and bickering continued on for a while. Emma and Cleo both claiming that Rikki was the worst, while she continued to say Cleo was the worst. The one element that they had in common was that each girl claimed that she was the best at keeping their secret.

.

"Ok, we'll just have to see firsthand who the best is and who the worst is." Emma began as the argument finally ended, "Starting tomorrow we each keep track of how many times we get wet in public. We'll keep track for a week and then at the end we'll compare counts and settle this once and for all."

Rikki had her own idea on how to prove who the best was."Sounds good and all, but let's take it up a notch shall we?"

"We have to avoid getting wet in public everyday so trying to avoid it for a week is nothing special, if we're gonna prove who the best is we need to create an actual challenge for all three of us."

"What do you propose then?"

"We borrow a page form the boys and go after each other."

Emma and Cleo looked at Rikki with puzzled looks on their faces.

"We try and get each other wet.

"We already have to avoid getting wet already and we know most of the hazards around us every day; but the unknown is what poses us the most danger, and since we know when we're vulnerable it forces us to keep our guard up at times when we would be unsuspecting."

"That's actually not a bad idea Rikki." Emma was truly impressed with Rikki's idea.

"Plus it sounds like it should be fun." Cleo added.

"Ok then, we each keep a tally of each time we accidentally get wet and each time we get each other wet. Even if we get dried off in time it counts. Anything we can think of to prevent getting wet or get one of us wet is fair game; that includes using our powers and the using the guys help. Sound good?"

"Sounds good to me, Rikki?"

"Well then I guess starting tomorrow morning you two better be prepared to lose. Just like Emma's gonna lose to me at getting back to shore."

.

Rikki quickly dove under the water and started to swim out as fast as she could, followed quickly by Emma. Cleo just watched them and rolled her eyes in disgust before diving down and swimming out after Emma and Rikki.

_._

_The Challenge was on._


	6. Rikki

**A/N: First, thanks to all those that have read, reviewed and/or added me to their various alert lists. Please read, enjoy and if you like, review.**

******Second, I need to issue a bit of a warning about what I have written that if you don't read it all the way through it will probably not be liked by you my readers. I have a part where Rikki hits on Lewis. I am not breaking anyone up and it is not a full moon. There is a reason why that she is hitting on him and I assure you that it will make sense and be accepted by the hardcore Rikki/Zane fans. Want to know more? Read on.**

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**Chapter 6: Rikki**

.

A knock came at the door to the Sertori's house. Cleo's dad opened the door to see Lewis.

.

"Lewis come on in, Cleo left instructions for me to send you upstairs to her room as soon as you get here." His tone was warm and friendly but changed in the blink of an eye becoming deadly serious. "You're not up to anything funny are you?"

"What? No." Lewis chuckled nervously and squeezed around Cleo's dad and headed up to Cleo's room while trying to pretend that he didn't know that he was being given deadly looks.

.

When he got up to Cleo's room he knocked on the door and called in to her, "Cleo, it's just me, are you decent?"

"Umm… kinda…"

"What?"

"Dad and Kim aren't around are they?"

"No, they're down stairs."

"Then come in; quickly, and shut the door behind you."

Puzzled at Cleo's request he did as instructed; quickly slipping into the room shutting the door behind him and turned around to see Cleo lying on the floor with her tail.

"Cleo I know you love being a mermaid but don't you think this is going just a little far."

"Very funny Lewis." Cleo said mocking him, "Now get me a towel so I can dry off."

"How did this happen anyway?" Lewis asked as he headed for her bathroom to get a towel.

"I was cleaning my tank and accidently bumped the table with the bucket on it and some of the water in it splashed onto me."

"Why didn't you just use your power to raise the water and fish right out of the tank?" He asked returning with a couple of towels.

"Do you remember what happened the last time I did that when I wasn't home alone?"

"Oh yeah; but you know, you did learn a lesson from all that."

Lewis tossed Cleo one of the towels to allow her to dry herself off and as soon as she had the towel in hand she focused her attention on the bucket containing the fish. Twisting her hand quickly a tower of water rose out of it and shot forward at Lewis soaking him from head to toe. Letting up Cleo turned to drying off her tail

.

"What was that for?" Lewis asked as he walked back into the bathroom to get a fresh towel.

"If I wanted to hear about my past mistakes I would ask about them."

Lewis came back in to the room, "Oh like…" Lewis paused a moment debating if he dared bring up what he wanted to. Ultimately and cautiously he took a chance, "Breaking up with me and not fighting for me when I started to date Charlotte." He said quickly.

.

Cleo had dried herself off by this time and was now standing facing him and tossed her damp towel at Lewis as he ducked out of the way.

.

"You know I'm suddenly thinking of walking to school by myself, or better yet maybe I'll tell Dad that you want me to stay out past curfew tonight."

"I never said anything like that…" Lewis' voice trailed off as he realized Cleo's intent. "That really isn't necessary." He chuckled nervously.

"Hey I got an idea," Lewis began quickly changing the subject, "Since we have some extra time before school why don't we go for a walk together."

"Taking me on a nice romantic walk does sound like a perfect way for you to apologize to me."

"Me? What about you?"

Cleo raised a tower of water out of her fish tank over Lewis' head and held it there. Lewis looked up at it and gulped.

"Right; shall we be off then."

Cleo returned the water to her fish tank, grabbed her bag and headed downstairs in a super chipper mood.

.

Down stairs her dad sat at the table eating his breakfast and reading the morning paper.

.

"Dad when Leis comes down would you tell him to meet up with me, he'll know where."

"Where are you going? It's a little early still to be leaving for school."

"I know but Lewis was misbehaving and I had to teach him a lesson and he's taking me a romantic walk to apologize."

"Misbehaving?"

"Relax Dad, it's nothing bad and I've already taken care of it." Giving her speechless Dad a kiss she headed out the door.

.

A few minutes later Lewis came down looking for Cleo. Looking up from his paper Mr. Setori noticed Lewis was half soaked.

"Lewis, what happened to you?"

"Umm… long story and I don't have time to tell it since Cleo and I are supposed to be going for a walk before school. Speaking of Cleo; where is she?"

"She went ahead without you and said for you to meet up with her and that you'll know where to find her."

"Ok good seeing you then." Lewis turned and tried to make a dash for the door.

"Hold on a second." Cleo's dad halted Lewis before he could get halfway to the door. "Cleo said you were misbehaving."

"She did, did she?"

"Care to explain?"

"Didn't Cleo tell you?"

"No she didn't." Mr. Setori said sternly.

"Well then let's just call it tasteless jokes." Lewis said nervously.

"I've got my eyes on you, so you better be treating her with respect."

"Don't worry Mr. Setori, I am." With that Lewis was allowed to leave.

.

Lewis quickly made his way down to the beach where the girls often left from for their swims. Cleo liked to wait for him there that way if she got tired of waiting she had a fairly private and secluded spot to leave for a swim from. When Lewis arrived he could see that Cleo was nowhere near ready to leave for a swim, plus there were a few people around making it unsafe to go for a swim anyhow.

.

"So what took you so long?" Cleo asked as Lewis came up to her.

"Your Dad actually; first he wanted to know what happened to me since I was still half soaked and then he detained me for questioning about my "misbehaving"."

"What did you tell him?"

"That I told some jokes that were in poor taste."

.

Hand in hand and allowing their conversation to drift form one topic to another Cleo and Lewis began to stroll along the beach right by the water's edge just beyond the reach of the tide. After about ten minutes they stopped and turned to face each other. With her back to the ocean Cleo looked right into Lewis's eyes and he looked right back into hers as they leaned in for a kiss.

_._

_Perfect timing; only a few people around so nobody will notice her escape into the water. Now I just have to wait until they are about to kiss… and now!_

_._

_Just as our lips were about to touch a bolt of lightning came striking down right between us from out of nowhere. It didn't touch either of us, but its sudden appearance and closeness shocked us both so much that we jumped backwards and lost our balance as we stumbled backwards. I managed to regain my balance but Lewis was not. He fell over backwards landing on the soft warm _dry_ sand. As he landed he looked up at me wide eyed with fear and I realized that while I did stay on my feet I was in the water._

_Thinking quickly I tossed my bag to Lewis and took off into the water diving under as soon as I could. When you are perfectly safe and want to go for a swim those ten seconds take forever to pass and your tail to appear, but when you are in danger of being exposed those ten seconds pass on the blink of an eye and before you know it you have your tail. I made it under with a few seconds to spare and was able to relax as I felt the change take place and my tail appeared. Now able to spend a lot longer time under the water before I had to come up for air I began a search and destroy mission; my target, another mermaid._

* * *

By time Cleo found somewhere safe to dry off she had just enough time to get to school without being late. She found Lewis waiting for her with her bag; a semi-worried look on his face that turned into relief when he saw her.

.

"Hey, what took you, I was getting worried."

"I couldn't find a safe place to dry off, plus I probably spent too much time searching for Rikki."

"Rikki? What does she have to do with what happened?"

"Think Lewis; a single bolt of lightning on a bright clear sunny day. Who do you know that could create a lightning bolt like that?"

"Ok, but why?"

"That I'll explain later at lunch. Right now I need to get to class." She gave Lewis a quick kiss, "I'll see you later." With that Cleo turned and rushed off to class.

_._

_Like so many other times I stood their staring and feeling like a bomb had just gone off in my head. The girls had an ability to do that to me without even trying. It had already been a crazy morning with the rest of the day to go. Something told me I was in for a crazy day._

.

Lunch time came around and Lewis met Cleo at her locker.

"So how is your day going; you know, aside from that whole unexpected swim this morning."

"Not too bad."

"So you gonna tell me how Rikki figures into that?"

Cleo explained the whole thing, how the challenge came about, how it worked and the rules surrounding it. He could only imagine the sort of fun he could have over the next week.

"When Cleo finished explaining it he had only one thing to say, "That would explain why I haven't seen Rikki at all today." He didn't want to reveal his plans just yet; he wanted to develop them better before he told Cleo what he was thinking.

"She's probably hiding from me. She must know I want to kill her."

"Why, because she got you wet?"

"No, because first she almost hit us with a lightning bolt. A centimeter more and one or both of us would have been hit. Second, her attack almost made me late for school. And third, she interrupted our time together. We were out for a nice romantic walk and she interrupted that and cost us all our time together."

"So how do you plan to find her? I suppose you could stake out Mako."

"I don't know, but right now I'm not concerned with that. Right now I just want to spend my lunch break with you."

Hand in hand they strolled off to find a place to sit and enjoy lunch and their time together.

* * *

_._

_I had work later that day, but I had a few hours after school before I had to be at work. My options were limited as to what to do. I didn't want to go home since Dad would've been there. He had been very busy during the weeks prior and was behind in his paperwork and probably would have taken over half the living room by then and did not need any distractions, plus I knew that when I saw him again I would be questioned about Lewis' "tasteless jokes". Going for a swim sounded inviting but instead I opted for the Juicenet and hanging out with Lewis since it give us a little more time together. He sat over at one of the computers checking his e-mail while I sat at a nearby table reading a magazine and enjoying my drink. I was so distracted that I didn't notice Rikki come in. When I did see her I just ignored her since I still wasn't the happiest with her despite having cooled off considerably. I had pushed revenge to the back of my mind for the time and just wanted to relax, enjoy my juice, read my magazine and enjoy a little time with Lewis before I had to go to work. It didn't matter though, Rikki didn't come over to me; instead she headed over to Lewis._

.

"Hi Lewis." Rikki said in an affectionate voice with a slight hint of flirting. It was enough to make Lewis stiffen.

"So what are you up to?" Rikki's tone became even more flirtatious as she started to let her hands begin to massage his shoulders.

Completely speechless and puzzled Lewis sat frozen in place afraid to turn around and see with his own eyes if it was indeed Rikki that was coming on to him.

"You know I was thinking, we don't spend nearly enough time together." Rikki was moving in closer to Lewis who still refused to turn around and look.

While Lewis was afraid to look Cleo wasn't; she had begun to take notice.

_._

_I didn't pay any attention to Rikki when she walked in or when she approached Lewis, but once she said that they didn't spend enough time together that got my attention and wondering what she was up to. While Rikki and Lewis were friends she tried to limit her Lewis exposure for the most part. She barley ranked more time with Lewis above having our secret exposed on her list of least desirable things._

.

"In fact, why don't we go for a walk along the beach right now?"

_._

_Is she hitting on Lewis?_

.

Reluctantly Lewis finally turned around to face Rikki. "Um, Rikki, what are you doing?" His voice trembled nervously.

"What, I can't admire a nice attractive young man?"

_._

_She's hitting on Lewis._

.

Cleo sat at her table watching the events unfold before her. Rikki, one of her best friends was hitting on her boyfriend. Slowly a flame began to ignite within her; a flame of hate and anger. As Rikki flirted more and more with Lewis that tiny flicker of a flame grew more and more into a roaring fire. Rational thought was flying out the window quickly and all that was left was what she saw and the obvious interpretation.

Ash was already on shift at the time and had stopped what he was doing and watched unable to believe what he was seeing. Watching the whole scene unfold before him he grabbed a chair and pulled up next to Cleo.

.

"Please tell me I'm imagining this. Please tell me that this is all just a horrible dream that I'm having."

Cleo remained silent. Her anger was beginning to show.

"What is she up to?" Ash asked straight up hoping for, but not expecting a response.

"I'll tell you what she's up to," Cleo had seen enough. Even though Leis kept trying to back away and push Rikki away she kept throwing herself at him and Cleo couldn't stand it any longer, "She's trying to steal my boyfriend."

.

Slamming her fists on the table she stood up, Ash tried to grab hold of her and hold her back but was unable. Cleo brushed him off and shoved him backwards on to the floor and stormed over to Rikki.

.

"Rikki, we need to talk." Cleo said firmly and evenly.

"Not now Cleo, I'm kinda busy with Lewis right now." Rikki replied nonchalantly.

"Fine, why are you hitting on Lewis?"

"I'm just going after what I want." She answered innocently.

"What?" Cleo said giving Rikki a deadly glare.

"I'm tired of hiding it and covering up my true feelings for him."

"EXCUSE ME!" Cleo said with as much astonishment as anger.

"What about Zane?" Cleo was holding back her desire to rip Rikki to shreds right then and there.

"Who?" Rikki pretended not to recognize the name.

"Zane, _your_ boyfriend."

"Oh, him." Rikki said carelessly, "You can have him, I don't want him anymore," she turned her attention back to Lewis, "I want Lewis."

"That's it."

_._

_I snapped, and with my adrenaline pumping I launched myself at Rikki ready to tear her apart. It hadn't been that long ago that I nearly lost Lewis to Charlotte and barley made any effort to get him back for myself. I had essentially sat idly by while they dated; I had made a few small moves to win him back, but they had been small and I never followed up on them. _

_I wasn't about to make that mistake again; I would fight for him every step of the way, especially if I was being betrayed by someone who I thought was a friend. _

_The sting I was feeling was enough to drive me insane. In my mind Rikki had gone from one of my best and closest friends and like a sister to me to a two-timing whore. If I was going to be betrayed by a friend, I sure as hell wasn't going to let her take Lewis too._

.

Ash had regained his footing and scrambled to get between the two girls. It was more of an effort to keep a furious Cleo from ripping Rikki to shreds than anything else, and he had his hands full with that. Having the girls take their troubles outside was out of the option now; all that could be done was hold Cleo back until she cooled off however long that took; and that was not going to be easy.

First Cleo's adrenaline and rage were pumping so hard that it was if she had super human strength that was pushing Ash to his limits. Second was the fact that a crowd had now begun to gather to watch a fight.

Cleo was calling Rikki every horrible name she knew. Lewis was trapped up against the computer terminal unable to see anything other than Rikki's back and some small portions of the crowd. Rikki continually taunted Cleo aggravating her all the more.

_._

_Come on Zane, hurry up before I end up having to kiss Lewis or she slips past Ash and kills me._

.

The confrontation was coming to its peak. Any moment now either Rikki would do something to totally enrage Cleo and Ash would be unable to hold her back or Cleo would simply tire and Ash would get her out of the Juicenet and away from Rikki.

.

"Here let me help cool you down." A voice from behind Cleo said and suddenly she felt water going down her back.

She screamed and froze in terror as she realized she was in trouble. Ash turned around to see a horrified look on her face.

"Help." Cleo mouthed to Ash.

.

Wide eyed Ash realized what happened and thinking quickly he grabbed Cleo's arm and began pushing his way through the crowd dragging Cleo behind him as he made his way over to the cool room. He made it just in time and breathed a sigh of relief.

_._

_That's one crisis averted_

.

"Okay, I'll be right back with a towel."

As Ash left Lewis came in.

"You okay?" He asked Cleo.

"Yeah, fine." Cleo was still agitated.

"Cleo you have to know that I knew nothing about that, and I don't think of her the same way at all…" Lewis began to ramble nervously.

"Lewis, it's alright. I know you didn't do anything wrong. It was all that bitch Rikki."

"So what happened? One second you were trying to get passed Ash the next you screamed and Ash was dragging you back here where I find you with your tail."

"Someone poured water down the back of my shirt."

"Who?"

"I don't know, all I heard was something about cooling me off and then it was all a blur as Ash helped me escape; I didn't get a chance to look at anyone."

"So what happens now, I mean with you and Rikki?"

"It's simple, if she ever comes near me again or you, I kill her."

.

.

The crowd that had gathered hoping to see a fight went back to what they had been doing before the confrontation between Cleo and Rikki. As the crowd scattered Rikki began to look around for one person in particular, spotting Zane she walked over to him with purpose in her step.

.

"Great performance." Zane greeted his girlfriend.

"What took you so long?" She quickly responded.

_._

_I knew that tone, it was the tone she would use when she was mad at me; the times when I had done something wrong. My mind flashed back to an incident less than a month after we had gotten back together; I was supposed to have met her at the beach and showed up late only to receive a half mocked scolding._

_._

_Oh no, what did I do wrong?_

.

Swallowing hard and in fear of Rikki's wrath Zane spoke "What'd I do?"

"You took too long to get Cleo. If I had to sell that bit about liking Lewis any longer I would have had to kiss him and I don't have nearly enough disinfectant to wash my mouth out with after that, plus that probably would have put Cleo over the edge and Ash wouldn't have been able to stop her and I'd be dead now."

.

As Ash re-entered the main room just in time to hear Rikki scolding Zane. With a thousand thoughts and questions running through his mind he didn't know where to start. Sifting through everything going on in his head he found a starting place.

.

"Someone want to tell me what is going on here, a few moments ago I saw Rikki throwing herself at Lewis and then I come back out here and I hear you to discussing how that was all a bit, and Zane, when did you get here?"

"I snuck in while everyone was paying attention to Rikki and Cleo. Sorry to put you through all that, but that is what allowed me to sneak up behind her and pour water down her shirt. We knew you'd get her to the cool room in time and if you didn't I was ready to rush her back there myself." He paused a moment realizing that Ash may not know about the girls' competition. "You do know about the challenge right?"

.

Ash was still trying to process everything that had just happened in the last few minutes, "Uh… yeah, Emma phoned me last night to talk and she mentioned it. So we're involved in it?"

.

"Yep, we get to help."

"So that whole Rikki, Lewis thing was an act?"

"Yep."

_._

_Now I know how Lewis feels._

.

Picking his jaw up off the floor Ash turned and headed back towards the cool room.

.

He knocked on the door and announced himself before slipping into the back room.

Cleo lay on the floor with Lewis right beside her.

"You two okay?"

"Yeah, we're fine, I know he did nothing wrong and it was all that bitch Rikki."

"Yeah well… you may want to re-think the names you want to call her. It was all an act." Ash paused a moment to let that register in Cleo and Lewis' minds.

"WHAT?" Cleo and Lewis said in unison.

"The whole Rikki hitting on Lewis was a distraction so Zane could get you wet. She wasn't actually hitting on Lewis. When I was just out there they explained the whole thing to me."

_._

_Suddenly it all made sense, and I began to feel sick to my stomach. All the names I had called Rikki, all the mean things I had said to her, and I had wanted to kill her. All because I jumped to conclusions that were all wrong instead to trying to think it through logically._

.

"Um… Could you go get Rikki for me?" Cleo asked Ash tensely, "I have some apologizing to do."

* * *

Dried off and back to normal Cleo sat at a table with Rikki, Lewis and Zane. All was forgiven all around with only an increased desire for revenge left lingering in Cleo. The group hung out for little while longer before Cleo got up to go to work and Lewis to go fishing. Rikki looked at her watch to note the time, she still had another five minutes or so before Emma would be showing up for her shift; it was the ideal time to set a trap for Emma. She went up to the counter and purchased some bottles of water and then when nobody was looking she slid into the back room.

.

.

Emma walked through the curtain of beads that always hung in the doorways of the Jucienet Cafe just like any other day. She said hi to a few people and greeted Ash with a quick kiss before dropping her bag off behind the counter and took her work clothes out of it and went into the back room to get changed for her shift. As she slipped off her shoes she stepped right into a puddle of water that she had not seen.

.

"Ash!" Emma called out hoping that he could hear her and come to her aid in case she couldn't think of a way to get dried off quickly.

_._

_Can't use my work clothes; that would just get them wet. Maybe I can get my pants off in time and use those to dry off._

_._

_I would have been better off trying to get my shirt off in time and using it to dry off, but in my panic stricken mode I did not think of that and attempted the first idea that came to my mind; I never stood a chance. As I rapidly tried to get my pants off I lost my balance and fell backwards landing in the puddle._

.

Hearing Emma's call Ash finished up with his current customers and went to the back room to check on Emma. When he got back to her he found her lying on the ground with her tail.

.

"This must be the work of Rikki." Ash stated plainly as he looked down at Emma. "So would you rather I get you a towel or get Rikki?"

"Rikki; there's a small puddle of water that a towel won't be able to help with."

.

Walking back out to the main room Ash looked around trying to find either Rikki or Zane but could spot neither one. Turning and going back he took out his cell phone and dialed Rikki's number.

.

"Hey Ash, what's up?"

"I think you know, and if Emma isn't able to come on the clock on time I'm going to make you work for her and I'll pay Emma for the shift. She's due to be coming on in three minutes so I suggest you come out of hiding and dry Emma off." Ash promptly hung up not waiting for a reply.

"You really think that's gonna work Ash? This is Rikki we're talking about. She knows that in order to force her to work you have to find her, and even then you can't force her to do anything."

"Trust me, after what she out me through with her whole hitting on Lewis act she owes me and she knows it."

"Her what?"

"Before you got here Rikki caused a scene by pretending to hit on Lewis right in front of Cleo. It turned out to be an act and the point was to enrage Cleo so that she would be too distracted to notice Zane sneak up behind her and get her wet. And let me tell you this; that girl has got some serious muscle when she's ready to kill someone, it took everything I had to keep her held back."

.

"I got the idea from you actually." Ash turned around to Rikki standing in the room her comment directed at Emma. "Remember when Ash named you employ of the month? You had seen me hanging around talking with Ash and you jumped to the conclusion that there was something happening between us."

_._

_So that is what she had been thinking, we may not have been dating that long back then and she really didn't know me that well, but still, how could she think I would do something like that._

.

"What? I never…"

"Don't deny it Emma, you were as easy to read then as you were when you had that crush on Byron."

"Ok, enough of this, let's just get me dried off so I can finish getting changed and get to work."

Ash left to go back to work as Rikki began to dry Emma off.

.

.

Emma emerged from the back room and went right to work ignoring Rikki who sat at the counter waiting for service.

.

"You know I still am a paying customer." Rikki yelled over to Emma. The only response was silence from Emma who went over to Ash and the other couple of girls who were working at the time and whispered something to them.

.

Unable to get service from anyone, Rikki surrendered and returned to her table with Zane. She resigned to just sitting at her table with Zane minding her own business. Emma refused to believe that Rikki wasn't up to anything more and kept going about her shift constantly keeping an eye on Rikki; she wasn't going to let her guard down around Rikki again.

It didn't manifest itself visually but Emma believed that her constant attention to Rikki was affecting her work and that manifested itself in the form of numerous apologies and proclamations from Emma to her customers that she was having an "off-day". The customers didn't think they were receiving bad service at all and even her regulars couldn't see any difference in the service they received from Emma (aside from her apologies for the bad service) but it was of no consolation to Emma. While she could have said something to Rikki and probably have gotten her to leave she didn't want to be rude towards her friend and fellow mermaid; and she had no right to kick her out since she wasn't doing anything that bothered anyone else.

_._

_As the day rolled on it began to look like Emma was simply paranoid, and I began to wonder if that wasn't Rikki's true intention, or if she was still there just because the Juicenet Cafe was a popular hang-out for teens all along the Gold Coast and she just had nowhere else to go. The truth of the matter was that Rikki was hanging out waiting and looking for another shot to get Emma before she left to go carry out another "attack" on Cleo. The shot she was looking for came along._ _A rush of customers came in and while that in itself did not provide Rikki with her opportunity it was the aftermath that worked in her favor._

.

.

The crowd had came and left in large numbers and while Emma and Ash managed to get the luck of the draw and most of their tables left little or no mess behind allowing them to clear their tables quickly and properly dispose of the garbage from them; the other girls that were that were working at that time were not so lucky. They had messy tables and in order to clear them quickly to make room for other customers they just piled the garbage onto trays and sat them behind the counter and quickly went back out to clear other tables with the intent to take care of the garbage as soon as the craziness ended.

.

Rikki had watched the hustle and bustle going around her and as tables began to leave with more people coming in she saw what was going on and saw her opportunity. She lived in a trailer with a gas stove and that morning she had gotten up early and needed something to get her going.

Pouring a pot of water for some tea she couldn't simply heat the water with her power since her dad was also up and had to use the stove. When she went to light the stove she found the electronic ignition was broken and used a small lighter to light it. Without thinking she had placed the lighter in her pocket where it had stayed throughout the day. Sliding over to Zane she filled him in on her plan and what his role was going to be.

.

Zane got up and went over to the counter to purchase a bottle of water and returned to his seat. At that point Rikki got up and went over to the counter and waited until Emma came back behind the counter to make a series of drinks. While Emma was focused on the task of making drinks Rikki checked around to make sure nobody else would see her slip the lighter out form her pocket. With nobody noticing she lit some of the used napkins and other paper trash. Returning the lighter to her pocket she returned to her seat. It wasn't until Emma went to get a glass for one of the drinks she was making that she noticed the fire.

.

"ASH!" Emma called out making sure to get his attention as she tried to find a way to put out the growing fire.

Ash turned to see the fire behind the counter and Emma frantically trying to find a way to put it out. He hurried back towards the counter unintentionally making a scene as he went. Rikki knew Ash would go into a half panic and that would be the ideal time to strike.

Zane pretended to notice the fire for the first time and with his recently purchased bottle of water in hand he leapt up and dashed for the counter like he wanted to help. He twisted off the cap of the water bottle and began to splash it around.

To someone not suspecting it appeared to be careless splashing with no control as to aim. The reality though was that he was trying to aim to a certain extent, and it worked. As Zane began splashing the water Emma tried to jump back out of range but was not in time as a small bead of water splashed onto her hand.

_._

_Yes!_

_._

_Oh no._

.

Emma grabbed some nearby napkins and wiped it off straight away and got clear as Ash came through grabbing the spray hose form the sink, turned the water on and began spraying. As all this unfolded Rikki got up and slid around next to Emma.

.

"That counts."

"What?" A confused Emma replied.

"Zane got that small splash on you; I saw you wipe it off."

Suddenly it became clear to Emma what had just happened, "You didn't?"

"Yep," Rikki was proud of herself. "I started it, and Zane intentionally splashed you."

.

Grabbing Rikki Emma dragged her friend into the back room.

.

"Are you crazy?" Emma shouted at Rikki.

"What?" Rikki defended herself completely clueless to Emma's problem. "You were perfectly safe; you had plenty of napkins and such around to dry off with and a clear shot into the back room, it would have taken you three seconds tops to get back here. There was no real chance of exposure."

"YOU STARTED A FIRE!"

"So?"

"Could you be any more carless? Do you realize the damage you could have done?"

"Relax Em, it was a small fire, it wouldn't do any real damage, plus Zane and I wouldn't have let it get even close to out of control anyhow."

"And what if you had been wrong, what if you and Zane couldn't control it and it had gotten out of control and it couldn't be stopped."

"It wouldn't, that was part of the plan."

.

Frustrated Emma threw her hands up in surrender and walked away to return to her shift. She returned to find the fire extinguished and Ash cleaning up the mess. She called Ash over to her and explained quietly what had just happened. Ash simply gave her a nod of approval and she went over to the table where Rikki had returned to with Zane and simply said one word to them.

.

"Out."

_._

_Rikki was all set to put up a fight but I simply grabbed her arm and gave her look that told her to let it go. We had caused enough trouble for one day and I didn't want more, plus after Rikki had started the fire I had begun having second thoughts about the plan. By then though it was too late and since the deed was already done, and there was no sense in wasting the opportunity to get Emma; so I let it go. But when Emma took Rikki aside I knew what it was about, and when she told us to leave I knew we deserved it._

.

Packing up their stuff Rikki and Zane went outside and went their separate ways for the time not thinking anything of it since they would meet up again in a few hours for dinner.

* * *

Cleo's shift had been a short one and after work she met up with Lewis who was out fishing. They had been planning on this so he had brought an extra pole for her to use. They were at their favorite fishing spot; it was one of the many public docks around the area. It was a fairly public spot on a small lake with many boats and people just passing by. The spot offered a spectacular view and on a clear day it was hard to find any better view. A short way up one side sat a very small island with many trees; being too small to develop it provided some natural beauty to the area. Along the same direction jetted out more piers some with boats docked and minimal development of any kind allowing the green grass to provide a perfect complement to the beautiful blue water. The other direction saw much of the same. Out in the water a few markers stood out to guide boats as they passed by. Across the way a few skyscrapers from the nearest major city decorated the skyline of a more developed residential area of the city itself. A few boats could be seen across the way docked at their private landings but they were little more than the size of a kid's toy to those looking across at them. This spot had been Cleo and Lewis' fishing spot since long before she became a mermaid, and it was one of the spots they liked to go to for their dates.

.

Cleo was telling Lewis all about a new trick that Ronnie was learning and all the other happenings of the marine park. Their conversation drifted form topic to topic and at one point they found themselves laughing hard and looking deeply into each other's eyes they leaned in for a kiss. It was at that moment that the sound of fishing line going out caught their ears.

.

.

Out under the waters of Cleo and Lewis' fishing spot two fishing lines hung in the water. One had a normal lure attached to it, the other some sort of spring.

_._

_Well now I see what Cleo's been talking about. She's right; no fish in its right mind would want anything to do with that thing._

.

Up on the dock Cleo glanced out of the corner of her eye to see whose line had the bite, and when she saw it was hers she instantly jumped up and grabbed hold of the rod and began to try and reel the line back in, letting Lewis fall forward. She intended to get the fish in close then have hand the rod over to Lewis and have him finish reeling it in while she stayed back to avoid being splashed by the fish as it flopped around since this was a semi-public area. She started making progress and then the line began to get tense and she was having a hard time with this battle. Lewis came up beside her and grabbed a hold and together the two of them were slowly making progress but it was soon lost and they found themselves on the losing side of the battle. Lewis slid in front of Cleo to get a better grip on the rod and reel and to shield Cleo from any splash that may come as they reeled in the fish since he would need her help to pull it in. Then without any warning Cleo felt a sudden sharp hard tug on the line that started pulling her forward as she let go of the rod.

Lewis on the other hand had a death grip on the rod and as it lurched forward he went with it, flying into the air. While in fight and screaming the whole time –a whole second and a half, though to him seemed 100 times longer- he let go and landed a good three meters away from the end of the pier. Cleo came to the edge and looked at him with her mouth covered as she tried to hide her laughter. Lewis swam over to the side of the dock and floating in place looked up at Cleo.

.

"Rikki, or Emma?"

"I'm guessing Rikki." Cleo said trying to contain her laughter. "It's still a little soon for Emma to be off."

"I'm glad you think this is funny, now how about a little help."

_._

_There were no ladders along the way and the pier was a little too high up for him to reach and while it wasn't that long the bank at the end could have been troublesome and it was probably be easier and quicker to have me help him._

_I looked around to make sure it was safe then I created a geyser to lift Lewis up high enough that he could crawl onto the dock._

* * *

The whole gang gathered at the Gilberts house for dinner. Emma's parents had invited her friends over for dinner just as a nice gesture -something they would do on occasion for their children. It was the first time that day that all six friends had been in the same place at once and while the atmosphere was light and friendly there was a small degree of tension between the girls. Throughout the course of the night subtle hints and threats were made every so often. Emma's parents were left wondering what was going on. The girls offered up that it was nothing more than idol threats regarding a private competition between the three of them.

After dinner Mrs. Gilbert did the dishes while everyone else gathered in the living room to watch a movie. After she finished the dishes she joined the others to watch the movie. Not long after she had sat down Zane decided to get up to get a drink.

.

"Since you're up would you mind grabbing me a bottle of water please?" Emma called over to Zane as he reached the refrigerator.

"And one for me too please." Cleo added.

"Sure, no problem."

.

Zane didn't mind doing such a small favor for the girls, but as he grabbed the bottles of water an idea came to him. He walked over to the sink and very carefully turned on the water so it drizzled a very small stream of water out of the faucet. Such a small stream made little noise as it came out of the fountain and hit the sink basin so nobody heard anything as he ran the bottles underneath the stream of water. He turned the water off and dried all the visible signs of moisture off the bottles and grabbing a couple of straws he took them over to Emma and Cleo.

.

"Here you go." Zane offered one of the bottles to Emma with a mischief smile on his face.

.

The last time Emma remembered seeing that smile was over a year ago when he had brought over a tray of drinks to the girls claiming they were frozen colas that Cleo found out first hand were really Prune Juice. Of course at that time Rikki hated Zane and he knew nothing of mermaid's existence.

.

"Thanks." Emma took the bottle hesitantly unsure of Zane's intention.

As she took it she instantly felt the moisture on the bottle. Her eyes widened and she immediately dropped it and ran for the stairs.

"Emma." Her mother cried out shocked at her daughter's sudden and rude departure.

Ash was just as shocked as Emma's parents but quickly deduced what had happened and remained seated so as not to arouse more suspicion.

Zane simply turned and offered Cleo the other bottle. She took it and she too instantly felt the moisture and dropping the bottle she ran for the stairs in hot pursuit of Emma. And again Mrs. Gilbert was left puzzled and this time she was all set to get up and go check on the girls when Zane stopped her.

.

"It's all right Mrs. Gilbert. I know what's going on and right now they're going to want their privacy."

She was hesitant, but she listened to Zane and sat back down. Zane then flashed a look to Ash; Lewis too knew what was happening and neither one moved.

.

.

Emma rushed up the stairs and headed straight for the bathroom. She didn't realize that Cleo was only a few seconds right behind her, so as soon as she shut the bathroom door she locked it and ran over to the tub where a towel lay draped over the side. It was no help to her though; the towel was damp and a second later she found herself balancing momentarily on her tail before falling forward.

.

Outside in the hall Cleo was racing up the stairs. She reached the bathroom door only to find it locked.

.

"Emma." She called through the door as she pounded on it.

.

Not having time to wait for Emma to open for the door for her she raced further down the hall to Emma's room getting in with just enough time to shut the door before her tail appeared and she toppled backwards.

.

.

Zane sat down along side Rikki and gave her a look as if saying, "_Well are you going to go dry them off?_"

"Oh, right; gottcha."

Rikki got up excusing herself hand headed up the stairs to tend to her friends.

.

.

Expecting to find both girls in the bathroom she knocked on the door and announced herself before trying to open it only to find it locked.

.

"Cleo, Em; it's just me, Rikki; it's safe, everybody else is downstairs."

"Hold on," an annoyed Emma called through the door, "I'm trying to get to the door right now."

Rikki kept a watch while she waited for the door to be unlocked. Finally she heard the click of the lock and she slipped into the bathroom. Once inside she looked around only to see Emma.

"Where's Cleo?" Rikki asked surprised and concerned by Cleo's absence.

"I don't know; I heard her banging on the door panicked. I had no idea she that she was coming; that's why I locked the door, and by time I heard her it was too late and I was too far from the door to reach it."

"Yeah, I don't think Zane was counting on you two getting separated. So what happened anyway?"

"Zane must have run the bottles under the faucet before giving them to us."

Rikki tried to hide her amusement, but Emma could tell Rikki was trying to hide her laughter.

"Why didn't you get a towel from the kitchen?"

"I couldn't be sure that there were any dry ones and turning into a mermaid in the middle of the kitchen for my parents to see wasn't exactly an option. Now can you dry me off please so I can get downstairs before my parents get worried?"

"Don't worry about them; Zane's got things under control down there. He told them that he knows what's going on and you and Cleo are going to want your privacy."

Emma wasn't fully convinced that was going to work, but it was good enough that she could work with it to ease her parents.

.

.

"So any clue where Cleo would have gone?" Rikki asked as she finished drying off Emma.

"Probably my room; that seems like the next logical place."

.

The two girls left the bathroom; Emma headed downstairs to rejoin everyone and Rikki in search of Cleo. She headed further down the hallway to Emma's bedroom and knocked on the door.

"Cleo, you in here?" No response came but Rikki thought she could hear some noise coming from inside the room.

"Cleo, it's just me. I'm coming in."

"Just a second." Cleo's voice called from the other side of the door.

A moment later Rikki opened the door only to have hit something large enough to block it form opening any further.

"Ow!" Came a cry from Cleo and Rikki realized that she had hit Cleo's tail with the door. "I said just a second didn't I?"

"Sorry."

Rikki waited patiently until Cleo told her to come in and doing so she slipped in and set to work on drying Cleo.

.

As the movie finished everyone got up to say goodbye to those leaving to go home. Ash was the last of the guests to leave sticking around a moment or two longer to share a goodnight kiss with Emma before leaving. Emma was glad to be rid of Rikki for the night. Rikki had gotten her a few times that day but it didn't trouble her too much. If she just played it safe and careful she would be fine and Cleo and Rikki would naturally take care of reversing the score over the remaining days.

.

Finally returning home Cleo breathed a huge sigh of relief as she relaxed after closing the front door. It had been a long day and Rikki had driven her right to the edge of exhaustion.

Despite their exhaustion Cleo found their mind pondering what she could do to get even with Rikki and how to get Emma.

.

.

One day down, six to go.


	7. Cleo

**A/N: Wow 2 years. Sorry about that. I honestly didn't think it had been that long. So thank you to all of you who are reading this and are sticking with me. I hit a bit of a block and then let myself get distracted by my other projects, real life and kinda forgot about this story. A special thanks to Miss Cocoo Bananas and KK Renee for lighting the fire under me to get this chapter going.**

**Next, I am actually really close to getting ready to write the next chapter so it should be a lot shorter wait for it.**

**Third: In the two years since my last update I have been doing a lot of writing elsewhere and feel like i have improved my skills so I went back and edited all the prior chapters and have updated them. There are a lot of changes and I would advise going back and re-reading them. The largest change was that I had implied that the Rikki and Zane were sleeping together. I had been unsure if I wanted to put that in there and went against my gut feeling when I put that in, so that has been removed now.**

**Fourth: I would like to make a quick plug for the poll that I have in my profile. Who do you think will win the competition?**

**Lastly: Sorry for the long notes. Sorry again for the long wait for the chapter. Thank you to all those that have read the story, added me to their various subscriptions, and reviewed my story. And of course please read, enjoy and if you fell up to it please leave a review.**

**ENJOY!  
**

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**Chapter 7: Cleo**

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The alarm rang out waking Cleo. Slowly she dragged herself out of bed and glanced out the window. One thought kept running through her mind; day two, revenge. Three times Rikki had gotten her wet already –though technically only once had actually been Rikki, the other two times had been Zane but Rikki had been the mastermind behind one of them.

She should have known Rikki would strike right away, she should have been weary of Rikki but instead she was now trailing Rikki which meant that she was worse than Rikki at keeping their mermaidness a secret. But that was only for the time being; she had made up her mind that she was going to change that by the end of the day.

Rikki had interrupted a date and tricked her into a fit of jealous rage and while she was over both of those for the most part it still burned at her that her date had been interrupted and that she'd been tricked so easily. By end of the day she wanted to get even for that and change the standings.

She glanced back at her alarm clock, if she hurried she just might have enough time before school to start to even the score.

_._

_Game on._

.

.

Rikki got up to the sound of her alarm. Any other day she would have been contemplating smashing it into bits but this particular morning was different. She still had to force herself to get out of bed and get ready, but for a change she did not do so begrudgingly; she had plans for that morning before school.

She readied herself as quickly as she could and got out the door. Ten minutes later she met up with Zane and hand in hand they began a slow stroll to no place in particular. Eventually their stroll brought them down to a small harbor and they made their way out on to one of the floating docks. They had no reason for being there or going out onto the dock, but did so anyway. As one thing lead to another they leaned in for a kiss. Just as their lips were about to touch the dock shook.

.

The jolt caught them off guard nearly causing them to completely lose their balance, it had been close but they had stayed on their feet.

.

"What was that?" Rikki asked.

"I have no idea, a large wave maybe?" Zane suggested.

"Heck of a wave this close to LAND!" Rikki half screamed as the dock shook beneath her feet again but more violently.

"Okay, once was freak occurrence; twice, something's going on" Zane began, "And I don't care to be on this dock when it happens AGAIN!" The dock shook for a third time with even more violence as it began to roll before settling back down.

"Wait, the other docks aren't moving; just this one." Rikki observed.

"So?"

"MOVE." Rikki began pushing Zane back towards land as the docked shook and rolled again.

.

Rikki had barely held on and got back to her feet to start pushing an oblivious Zane again. She made it half a step before another violent lurch once again almost throwing her, but again at the last possible moment she was able to hold on. No sooner had she gotten back to her feet the most violent lurch occurred and Rikki had no chance to hang on and was tossed into the water.

Recovering quickly she instantly knew what had happened and dived down as deep as she could before her tail appeared. Once a mermaid she made her way back towards the surface but stayed just below. There she looked for Zane who she spotted safely on the dock holding on to the edge of it for dear life. Staying just below the surface she swam over to him where he could see her clearly.

.

"_I'm okay._" She mouthed to him.

"_What happened?_" He mouthed back.

"_Cleo._"

_._

_Cleo?... Of course; Cleo!_

.

Rikki swam off in search of a place to dry off. Meanwhile Zane was hesitantly loosening his grip and getting to his feet. He looked around and back on land he could see a few people who might have witnessed that whole scene and among them he spotted Lewis. Still with extreme caution he made his way back to shore. Once on shore (and finally feeling safe) he made his way straight to Lewis.

"What was all that about?" he asked Lewis.

"What are you talking about?"

"That out there." Zane indicated towards the dock. "The dock threw Rikki and almost me as well."

"Oh, that; that was just gas pockets releasing. Happens every so often; pockets of gas escape the crust and float up to the surface and they can have quite a force behind them."

"Gas pockets?" Zane looked at Lewis convinced that Lewis had gone completely insane.

"Yes Zane _gas pockets_."

Zane suddenly understood what Lewis was doing.

"Oh, right… gas pockets." He glanced back out at the dock again trying to reinforce the "gas pockets" story in his mind then turned his attention back to Lewis. "Hey since I don't have enough time for Rikki to make it back and you'll see her at school would you deliver a message for me?"

"Sure?"

"Tell her I'm sorry I couldn't wait around and that I'll catch up with her at the cafe after I get out of school."

"Will do." Lewis agreed casually. "Oh, and one more thing," he added as Zane began to walk away, "I think she wanted revenge for yesterday?"

"Huh?" Zane turned back towards Lewis.

"I believe you meant to ask why and I'm answering you. If you need more details ask Rikki when you see her later on." Lewis turned away from Zane and began to walk in the opposite direction as Zane needed to go.

.

.

Cleo pulled herself up onto the beach. It wasn't easy to do without legs, but she was accustomed to pulling herself out of the water and up onto the beach with a tail dragging behind her. Once upon a time this section of the beach had one of Lewis' favorite fishing spots, one that he told few people about. Now it was the preferred place for the girls to leave from and return to when going for a swim.

.

It was very secluded, detached from the main sections of the beach. To Two sides were steep hills that led down to large boulders with a few more scattered along the beach at the water's edge. A small path through some of the boulders led into the area and it was clear form a ways out that the path was essentially a dead end. The actual beach portion was very small and with all the rocks around it, it wasn't a very desirable location to hang out at. Everyhting about it though made it perfect for the girls.

.

In a corner were one of the largest was large cluster of rocks that Cleo had hidden her bag at. Not easily found but even as a mermaid easily accesses and far enough away from the water she could dry off without the oceans waves coming right back in on her erasing the progress she would have made in drying herself off.

As soon as she reached her bag she took out a fresh dry towel and began to rigorously dry herself off. It was a long arduous process, but one she had to go through whenever she went for a swim without Rikki around; it was the price she had to pay for that swim and consequence of being a mermaid. While she had accepted it as a price she would gladly pay she still was a little envious of Rikki since _she_ could dry herself off a lot quicker _and_ without a towel.

Cleo hurried the process but being completely soaked form head to toe-or in this case fin- it took time. Finally dry and back to normal she checked the time on her phone; she had just enough time. Wasting no further of it she quickly made her way away from the beach; if she hurried she had just enough time to carry out part two of her plans for before school.

_._

_I had not known were to find Rikki or what I was going to do, so it had taken me longer than I had anticipated to accomplish the task. Now I was pressed for time, and this time I knew what I was doing and how long it would take to successfully pull off an attack on Emma._

.

Cleo pushed herself to her limits. She ran as fast as she could stopping every so often to catch her breath and check the time. With Each stop and check she found her time dwindling away quickly, but still within range.

_._

_I wanted to give up, I wanted to let it go and try and find another opportunity to get her. I didn't think I could do it either and that only fueled my desire to give up on the attack, I still had the rest of the week to go after all. And then just as I was ready to actually give up a though came to me; Rikki._

_Rikki had been the one to propose this element to the challenge, and she had taken it to a level beyond what had been expected and essentially gotten me wet three times the day before and to my knowledge had gotten Emma only once and she had stayed completely dry when it counted. That meant I was in last place; for the time _I_ was the worst at keeping our secret. I had already gotten her once and was planning on getting her three more times that day (though I didn't have a plan on how to do it). That still left Emma though; if I waited to try and get her later I might not get the chance to make it up before day's end and I wanted to be wearing that title by the end of the day If I didn't take this opportunity _she_ could end up being in the lead, _she_ would be the best at keeping our secret._

_._

_No!_

_._

_It had been less than 24 hours ago when I had been ready to rip apart one of my best friends for trying to steal Lewis. I had been ready and willing to fight for something _I_ wanted. If I had been willing to fight then there was no reason not to fight again. I wanted Lewis and was ready and willing to fight for him; I wanted to prove that I was the best at keeping our secret, and to do so I would have to fight for it__(the first step was moving myself to the top of the leader board by the end of the day),._

.

.

Tuesdays were a late day for Ash; being a few years older than Emma he was already in college giving him a more flexible schedule. With Tuesdays being a late day for him it allowed Emma to have time with him before school. Any other day of the week outside of the weekend Ash would already be in class by time Emma got up.

Emma cherished her Tuesdays and each one brought about something different. Each week they managed to find a new way to find time together. On this particular occasion it was a walk through the most scenic park on the Gold Coast. Emma had been there before but never with somebody special; it was said that to truly appreciate the beauty of the park you needed to see it with a significant other. Emma had been talking about how excited for the date she was since Ash had first suggested it to her back on Friday of the previous week.

_._

_There was an added beauty to the park on that day; they had their sprinklers out._

.

Emma walked through the park hand in hand with Ash. She constantly made comments to Ash about the scenery and the view, though the exact words were indecipherable, but she knew her friend well enough to know what the topic was. It didn't matter though, she had no interest in what exactly they were saying to each other; her only interest was that they were almost in range. She had watched them from a distance as they had made their way throughout the park catching sight of them and losing them just as quickly only for them to reappear. Now they were in plain sight and a few feet away from where she needed them to be. Another 10 meters was all she needed and they would just barley be in range for the attack, though 15 would work better. 15 would leave Emma helpless and defenseless against her attack.

She watched and waited patiently as each step brought them closer. They had made it the 10 meters to be within range and still she waited to get another five as she readied herself. They stopped three meters shy of where she wanted them. This was a problem, Emma was close enough to hit, but she was still far enough away that once the attack started she could hide behind Ash and avoid getting wet or even just get back out of range before she could get wet. Making it worse, time had run out; it was now or never. Just as she was ready to make her move an idea suddenly struck her and topping it off was that Emma was in the new kill zone with no chance for escape.

_._

_Now._

.

Suddenly the sprinklers came to life and at the same time a strong wind blew carrying the water from the sprinklers with it. Emma had no chance at all as she was sprayed form head to toe. The sprinklers died off along with the wind, and with a great satisfaction she watched as Emma looked around for an escape route. Off to her left (Emma's right) was an embankment that led into a channel of water that ran out to the sea.

_._

_One, two, three, four, come on Emma get out of here. Five, she's gonna need some help. Six._

.

A strong sudden gust of wind blew across Emma; she turned her head to get her face out of the wind and saw her escape route. She felt relief wash over her as Emma threw her bag at Ash and ran down the embankment into the water.

_._

_Nine; oh thank god she made it. That was too close._

_._

_Ash was baffled at what had just unfolded before him. He understood Emma's need to take off but unsure of what to do next or what had caused the sprinklers to turn on like they had or where the wind had come from. And making it all the better was how his face went from confused to totally confused when he saw me step out of the brush where I had been hiding._

.

"I'll take that." Cleo said as she grabbed Emma's bag from him.

_._

_Cleo? What? How? When?..._

.

With the bag slung over her shoulder along with her own she took off racing has hard as she could for the beach to help Emma dry off.

_._

_I was starting to rethink the attack; I had practically killed myself running as hard as I did to get to the park just barley having got my breath back when they came within range. And here I was again, running as hard as I could to get back to the beach. I wondered if I would make it or die trying. Had the attack been worth it? It didn't matter though; it was way too late now and I owed it to Emma to help her get dried off, especially since she didn't have a towel to use and would just have to lay there on the beach letting the sun do the work for her – a process that would take way too long and make her very late for school._

.

She raced as hard as she could; her body ached with every step but she pushed on harder. When she reached the beach she found that she had surprisingly beaten Emma there. So she stashed her bag along with Emma's such that Emma would be able to see them once she came ashore and then hid herself from sight. It was possible that Emma was just off-shore where the water was deep enough to hide but close enough o be able to make out any signs of people ashore; but not close enough to make out who they were, and if Emma spotted somebody she wouldn't bother coming ashore until she felt it was safe. A few minutes later she heard the subtle sounds of what she knew to me a mermaid's tail dragging in the sand.

.

"Cleo?" She heard Emma call out.

.

She emerged from her hiding spot grinning from ear to ear with a smug look on her face. She could see by from the look on Emma's that in that one instance everything had just fallen into place and she understood the whole series of events that had led her to where she was at.

.

"No." Emma said in disbelief.

"Yep, and it wasn't easy, believe me."

.

Emma continued to stare at her in disbelief as she dug thru her bag and retrieved a towel that she tossed at Emma and then dug thru her own bag for another fresh dry towel which she used to start drying off Emma's tail. Realizing what Cleo was doing Emma brought herself back to reality and began to dry herself off from the waist up.

* * *

School came and went. To Lewis it was an average day; classes, lunch, classes. The one difference though was that he found it harder than normal to concentrate. When he had met up with Cleo that morning before school she had filled him in on her preliminary plans for the day and the attacks she planned to carry out that morning. Since then his mind had been constantly active trying to find ways to help Cleo.

When school let out for the day he waited patiently for Cleo in their usual meeting place. With her class was on the opposite side of the school she would have to make her way through the crowd to get to her locker and then fight through the crowds again to get to him; it would take almost ten minutes for Cleo to get from her class to their meeting place. If she was feeling tired, didn't feel like fighting through the crowd or stayed to ask her teacher some questions she would be at least an additional five minutes. He waited patiently counting the minutes as they passed. To his surprise it took Cleo only five minutes to make her way to meet up with him.

.

"Hey you." She greeted him affectionately and kissed him.

"Shall we be on our way then?" He responded.

"Our way where?"

"The Juicenet."

"The Juicenet? Why? I was hoping _we_ could spend some time together."

"I've got some plans that I'm gonna need your help for."

_._

_It had been a while since I'd Lewis and myself had had any real time together, just the two of us. The few opportunities we'd had had been interrupted by one thing or another. It had been close to a week since we'd had any real us time, but when he told me his plan I was willing to sacrifice some of our time for what he had in store._

.

.

Cleo and Lewis made their way to the Juicenet and walked in to find it empty save for Ash, one of the servers and Rikki.

_._

_Perfect._

.

They took a seat at a table across the room from where Rikki sat and went about their normal routines; Cleo reading a magazine and Lewis homework.

.

"So how was school today?" Ash greeted them as he came over to their table.

"Okay." Cleo responded, "How were you at calculus? Emma and Lewis both have tried to help me with this chapter but I'm totally lost."

"I did okay; but if Lewis and Emma haven't been much help I doubt I will, but I'll give it a shot. How about I swing by your place tonight after the picnic?"

"Sounds good."

"So do you know what you want?"

"Lewis is just going to have a cup of ice and I'm gonna pay for Rikki's next drink.

"Oh and you might want to send Tinna to the back for a little while once you deliver Rikki's drink."

"Ok..." Ash gave them a skeptical look before he went to fetch Lewis a cup of ice.

A moment later he returned still looking puzzled. "I just remembered that Tina's off in just a few, just as soon as Emma's ready. Am I going to have to send her to the back?"

"No, but Tina doesn't normally stick around long after her shifts does she?"

"No; usually she just goes leaves to go home, doesn't even bother changing back to her street clothes first. Why?"

"Oh, you'll see."

Again Ash gave them a curious look and walked away.

.

Ten minutes later Emma was on and Tina gone, no other customers had come in since their arrival and Rikki's drink was almost empty. Cleo walked over to the counter to pay for a fresh drink for Rikki as she had said she would. When it was ready Emma took it over to Rikki who hadn't looked up once since Cleo and Lewis had come in.

.

"Here you go, curtsey of Cleo."

"Huh… oh… hey Em, when did you get here?" She asked looking up at Emma.

"A while ago, I got here before you even; I've just been in the back getting ready."

"So when did Cleo and Lewis get here?" She asked as she looked across the room.

"Like ten minutes ago I was told."

"What is this? A peace offering?" Rikki called across the room to Cleo who gave a mischievous smile in return.

_._

_Ok… What was all that about? Well no sense in waiting her generosity, but maybe I should stay here for now, something's up. She probably wants me to come over so she can get me wet._

.

Rikki began sipping on her fresh drink as she turned back to her own magazine. Five minutes later she happened to notice something peculiar as she was taking a sip of her drink; a bubble. It had been for just a fraction of a second, so quick she wasn't even sure she'd actually seen it. She figured it was just her imagination and all set to go back to her magazine when she saw another; and this one was growing. She was puzzled and watched it grow with curiosity. After a couple of seconds it was still growing and she began to realize what was happening. The bubble shouldn't have gotten as big as it was; it should have burst before it got even to a quarter of the size it now was. A few more seconds and it had grown taller and was reaching up over the top of the glass; but it was only growing taller and not any wider; she'd seen this before. The bubble continued to grow into more of a tower, and it was beginning to lean towards her as it got taller.

_._

_Cleo._

.

Rikki got up from her seat and backed away from the table quickly. The tower continued to grow and lean towards her but she was ready now. She raised a hand to it curling her fingers in as she began to evaporate away the leading edge of the tower. It could gain no ground towards Rikki, but she was gaing no ground back either.

.

"It's not going to work Cleo."

_._

_The battle was a deadlock. Neither one of us was letting up and then the battle changed in an instant. I felt a cold _wet_ chill run down my back. It came as such a shock that I dropped my guard and the instant that I did the tower of water came crashing down on me. I knew I couldn't dry myself off in time and I couldn't risk changing into a mermaid in the middle of the cafe where somebody could walk in at any time; so I took off for the back room. The last thing I heard was something about revenge._

.

Lewis watched and waited for his chance. He saw a tentacle of juice rise up out of the glass, and just as he planned Rikki got up and began to do battle with it. He got up from his seat and taking his cup of ice began to slowly skulk across the room. He made sure to keep low to avoid being seen by Emma or Ash just in case they figured out his master plan and tried to interfere, and so to minimize the chance of Rikki seeing him coming.

As he got right behind her he knew he now that he could not hide from Emma and Ash and had to hope for the best. He carefully stood up and with the most delicate of touch pulled the back of Rikki's shirt out just enough and dumped the whole cup of ice down the back of it.

.

"Consider that revenge for the ice up dropped down the back of my shirt."

.

.

Emma watched sitting on pins and needles. The cafe was empty aside from her friends whom already knew the mermaid secret. There was no danger of exposure amongst those already in the cafe but that didn't mean somebody couldn't walk in any second and possibly see Cleo and Rikki using their powers. But she also knew that if Cleo won this battle that it was a mark in her own favor towards victory, plus she also was a little curious to see who would win. She kept one eye on the battle and one out for any customers that might come in deciding to alert Cleo and Rikki the instant she suspected they were about to get a customer. By time she spotted Lewis he was dumping a cup something down the back of Rikki's shirt. Her jaw dropped in disbelief and her eyes went wide as her voice caught in her throat as she tried to utter a shocked laugh of disbelief as a juice covered Rikki ran for the back room.

.

.

Ash had gone to the cool room to get some supplies that needed restocking at the front counter and was returning with his arms as full as he could make them. He had just enough room left in his arms to slide the cool room door shut and as he turned to head back out to the counter Rikki came running into the back room at full speed. Neither one of them had time to react as she plowed right into him. Everything he was carrying went flying as he stumbled backwards regaining his footing. Rikki had also bounced backwards but only a few steps before she lost her balance, and mid fall the change took her and she fell the rest of the way as a mermaid. The change had not interrupted her momentum any and the fall hit her hard. Ash glanced down at her as she lay there rubbing her hips grimacing with pain.

.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, just a little sore that's all.

"Oh and you might want to get a mop out by my table."

Ash simply turned and walked away.

_._

_I think we may need a no mermaids policy._

.

.

Cleo knew it would have been pointless to stick around the cafe any longer. Rikki would have her guard up and it would be impenetrable. Ash also figured in to her decision; he was bound to start getting annoyed with all the attacks in the cafe and she figured she owed it to him to let him have some peace of mind. And as final nudge in the direction of leaving it would provide her some time alone with Lewis.

But again it would prove to be limited as before long an idea came to her to get Emma.

.

.

Emma walked silently by herself. Her shift was over but Ash still had a few hours to go before Wilfred would come in to relive him. She had been tempted to stick around just to hang out with him, but she had homework to do. The group had plans to meet up again later for a picnic dinner and she would see him again then and took a small amount of pleasure in that. She mostly though wanted to make up for the trouble at the cafe the last few days, and for their date that morning being ruined. While she wasn't _directly_ responsible for any of it, she had helped to create the challenge that led to it.

.

She was travelling along her usual route as she passed by a small wooden pier and at the end of it was Lewis.

_._

_That's odd; I've never seen him fishing here before._

.

Curiosity got the better of her and she walked out to say hello and what had brought him to a new fishing spot.

.

"Catch anything yet?"

Leis turned briefly to see who was talking to him, "Oh hey Em; na nothing yet, I just got here maybe 10 minutes ago."

"Why aren't you on a date with Cleo; I figured you two would be off together right now."

"We did, but had to make it short. Homework required her to return home and call the date short."

"So what brings you out my way then? You've got what, like 50 something different fishing spots?"

Lewis chuckled lightly, while it was true he did have a fair number of spots it was no where's close to what Emma had jokingly suggested.

"Decided to try some place new. Heard some rumors that they really like to bite round here."

"Really? Huh; never heard anything or seen that many people fishing round here."

Lewis shrugged it off as he reeled in his line and recast. "Well it can't hurt to try. I've got an extra rod with me if you want to join me."

"That's alright; Cleo's not the only one with homework to do."

"Alright, well I guess I'll see you later then.

"Oh and Em."

"Yeah?"

"Sorry."

"Sorry? For what?"

He reeled in his line again and cast it back out but just off the end of the pier and suddenly a large gush of water came shooting out from beneath the pier right where Emma was standing.

"For trapping you."

Emma ran forward and dove off the end of the pier and a few seconds later Lewis watched as his fishing pole went flying from his hands into the water.

_._

_Well at least she's not Rikki who'll hide it someplace out at Mako. She'll return it to me by tomorrow._

.

.

Beneath the pier Cleo waited patiently for the all clear sign. She was a little shocked that Emma had take Lewis' fishing rod but laughed a little about it just the same. Finally she saw a fishing line drop down into the water with Lewis' infamous lure on the end of it; the all clear sign. She swam out to the end of the pier and surfaced.

.

"How was that?" Lewis asked her.

"Perfect.

"Sorry though that it had to take away from our time together."

"That's alright, as long as I get to spend _some_ time with you. I'll take what I can get since all of it is great no matter how long it is.

"Besides, I think I can find a way to get us some _us_ time at the picnic tonight."

* * *

Cleo and Lewis had been the first to arrive that evening for the groups picnic dinner followed shortly by Rikki and Zane. Emma and Ash were late to arrive and by that time Lewis had the grill going and was almost ready to start serving.

.

"Perfect timing. Dinners almost ready, I just need to run over to the soda machine and get drinks. What are you two having?"

"I'll take a diet." Emma replied.

"Orange if they have it, if not grab me a diet too."

.

Lewis left the grill unattended as he went to go get the groups drinks. He glanced over his shoulder a few times to see if anybody would check the grill but none did; if they had they would have discovered just enough food on it for Cleo and himself. The vending machine was just out of line of sight form the others' location which worked out perfectly for him. He selected the drinks, returned to the group, distributed them and returned to the grill. No sooner had returned to his post Rikki opened her drink and was greeted by a spray of soda that got her all over.

.

They had planned on accidents occurring and made sure there was an emergency escape route to some place safe. In this case it was just a few steps to where the ocean met land and Rikki didn't waste time getting out of there. The entire group laughed with delight at Rikki's misfortune. Emma was next; as she was laughing she cracked open her can and received the same treatment as Rikki. She too got out of there quickly. Ash quit laughing and gave Cleo suspicious stare. It was clear now to him that Lewis had shaken up Emma and Rikki's sodas pretty good while he was out of sight.

.

"It wasn't my doing, I've been right here the whole time. I never touched their drinks, you saw that."

.

Ash knew it wasn't Cleo's doing in action but believed her the mastermind and continued to watch her. After another moment he broke his gaze and opened his own drink. Lewis had sabotaged that one too and he received his own soda shower.

.

"Ash my man, you are such a sucker to fall for that." Zane poked fun at him.

Ash retaliated in turn by grabbing Zane's and opening it right in his face.

Ash smirked back at Zane as soda dripped form his face. "Not so funny is it now. Come on, let's go get the girls."

_._

_I hadn't exactly planned on Ash talking Zane into going to retrieve Emma and Rikki, and I wasn't sure why he did, but I didn't care; my plan had worked and I was left alone with Cleo._

.

"Oh and by the way Ash," Cleo called out after him, "I won't be needing your help with my homework after all. Turns out Dad is actually pretty good with this stuff."

He didn't say anything back.

.

When Ash and Zane were out of sight she looked at Lewis and then her drink.

"Is it safe?"

"Yours; yeah. I told you I had a plan to get us alone."

.

.

Content for the time Cleo let herself relax. She might not have been able to get the lead in the competition, but was satisfied with having got her revenge on Rikki for interrupting her date with Lewis the previous morning and believing that she was tied with Emma and that she had Rikki beat.

.

.

Out at sea Rikki's mind raced with possibilities. Cleo had evened the score, they had gotten each other three times a piece and it seemed that Cleo had focused solely on her; that would mean all three of them Cleo, Emma and herself were all tied up. She'd backed off for a day thinking that all she needed was the first strike; the early blow to make them believe they couldn't catch back up and surrender; she'd been wrong.

_._

_Not good._

.

.

Emma couldn't believe the last two days she'd had; she'd played a strategy of defense only. She didn't think the others would be able to beat her if she just played it careful, there would be no need to go on the offensive. Now she was reconsidering her strategy since she had an uphill battle to fight.

.

.

Two days down and five to go.


End file.
